Flute



June 1 1926.

C. B. GAGE FLUTE v I Filed June 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1 8, 12;:

ChTZc-s B. Gaag June I 1926.'

- 1,586,794 C. B'. GAGE FLUTE Filed June 18, 1923 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B \J I151. r"

Charles 8. Gem

affozuc-q Patented June 1, 1926.

UNITED STATES CHARLES B. GAGE, or crnonvna'rr, OHIO.

FLUTE.

Application filed June 18,

An object of'my invention is to provide a flute wherein the, function of the briccialdi lever or B flat thumb key, is retained, yet wherein the sliding thumb movement for actuating said lever may be dispensed with.

Another object of my invention is to provide a structure wherein the function of said lever may be accomplished by the stronger ratherthan the weaker fingers of the operators hands.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for the purpose stated wherein said lever may be operated automatically from other keys.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient device for the purposes stated.

,These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a development of apart of a Boehm flute and disclosing my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View on line 3 s of Fig. 1. a

Fig. 4 is a fragmental development on line 44 of Fig. 1, and showing the structure of flutes heretofore generally employed.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55'of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of Fig. 1, and showing those parts of the flute that co-operate with the new structure for carrying out my invention.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 6. v y

Fig. 8 is a fragmental sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line 9-9 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view on line 1010 of Fig. 6. Y

Fig. 11 is a sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 6 showing a modified form of my device.

My invention is disclosed herein as applied to a Boehm flute. In this type of instrument the tampions are normally yieldingly held out of engagement with their respective apertures in the body 12, by means of individual springs associated with the several tampions and levers associated with the tampions. v

' The body 12 of the flute is cylindrical and throughout its length is provided with aper- 192'3. Serial No. 646,098.

tures for which pivotally mounted pads, tampions, or covers 13, 14, 15, 16, 1'7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 are provided. A number of finger pieces or finger keys 27, 28. 29 and thumb pieces or thumb keys 30 and 31 are pivotally carried by the flute, and serve to actuate certain of the tampions. The tampion 26 is carried by the thumb key 30 and moves therewith.

The thumb key 31 lies over the tampion 26, and is pivotally mounted on the shaft 33 and heretofore has served the double function of controlling the cover 26 and a lever 32 for operating one of the other tampions, for example tampion 21 as shown herein. Heretofore it has been necessary to slide the thumb between the thumb keys 30 and 31' and in some cases to withdraw the thumb from these two thumb keys for effectingvarious notes. A structure involving these features is disclosed in Fig. 4. The structures disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5 do not embody my invention, but show the structure of flutes heretoforeemployed, and to which my improvement is to be added.

Attention is now directed to Figs. 1 and 6. In considering the structures shown in Figs. 1 and6, it must be remembered that the parts 21,30, 31,32, 33, 34,35,38, 39,40 and 41 in Figs. 1 and 6 correspond to parts 121, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135. 138, 139, 140 and 141 respectively shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this regard attention is called to the fact that the member 33 is not visible on Figs. 1 and 6, but may be noted by reference to Fig. 3. There is. no part 36 in the improved structure disclosed in Figs. 1 and 6. The parts 40 and 41 are not visible in Figs. 1 and 6, consequently reference must be made to Fig. 5 wherein 140 and 141 disclose where 40 and 41 in Figs. 1 and 6 would be disposed. It

will be noted that the thumb key 31 operates the tampion 21. The flat end 34 of the thumb key 31 is engaged by the operators thumb and the other end 35 of the thumb key operates upon the transversely extending lever 32 pivotally mounted on the shaft 38 extending longitudinally of the flute and carrying a sleeve 39. The lever 32 and the tampion 21 are fixedly carried by the sleeve 39. A suitable spring is provided for normally retaining the tampion 21 out of engagement with the mouth 40 defining the aperture 41 for which said tampion 21 forms a closure. The spring structure may be of any variety, commonly employed for this purpose. In: order to obviate withdrawal of. the thumb from the thumb key 81 and yet permit unseating of the tampion 21, I have provided a lever 42. The lever 4:2? is pivotally mounted on the sleeve 33 and its one end 43 is adapted to engage the bracket 51 cal-"- ried by the shaft 52 extending longitudinally of the flute and mounted for oscillation. The other end of the lever 42 is otf-set asshown at 14. The end a of the lever is provided with a slot 455 in whichthe lever 32 lies. The extreme end of end 35 of the thumb key 31, and indicated in Fig.5,as 136, is dispensed with. A spring 1-6 carried upon the lower face of the thumb key 31 underlies the cross lever 32. and performs the function of the eliminated end I36 of the thumb key 31. The end 44 of the lever 42 engages the free end 4;? of the spring 4:6. From the foregoing it will be apparent that the spring 46 may be depressed by the lever 42' whereby to permit the cross lever 32 to assume the same position that said cross lever would assume if the thumb key 31 were released by an op erator. In Fig. 10 there is provided an adjustable collar e28 whereby the tension of the spring 46 may be modified. Any suitable means may be provided in lieu thereof. The end of the spring. 46 serves to yieldingly retain the thumb key 31 in a normal position at which time the aperture ll is uncovered. The bridge is provided upon the lever 42 merely to afford a substantial bearing of the lever 42 and for precluding lateral oscillation and may be dispensed with, for example as shown in ig. 6. Any suitable means may be .)rovided for actuating the lever $2 from any desired key or tampions. As shown herein the shaft 52 is provided for this purpose. in Fig. 6 the shaft 52 is shown in such position that it may be oscillated by means of the cover 151'. The tampion- 145 carries a shan-h 53 that is pivotal-ly mounted interme diate its ends upon the sleeve 56. The free end of the shank underlies the angular arm carried by the shaft 52. so that the downward movement of the tampion 1st serves to move the angular arm upward. The bracket 51 has a lip that underlies. the end 43 of the lever 412. whereby the end of the lever 42 is moved upwardly against the yielding resistance of the spring; L6. If the free end d7 of the spring 46 is depressed, the cross lever 32 is permitted to assume its normal position the same as would be accomplished were the thumb key 31 released.

lVhen the apertru'e for which p ad 14 forms a closure is open, the instrument sounds F. lVhen pad 20 is raised from its aperture, B flat is sounded. hen pad 21 is raised from its aperture, B is sounded. When pad 26 is raised from its aperture, (l is sounded.

Although I have shown the finger key 1% and shaft 52 as constituting the means for permitting the return of the cross lever 32" to its normal position without releasing the thumb key 31, it is readily apparent that other suitable means may be employed to attain the same results, wherefore I do not restrict myself to the specific structure shown herein or to the specific arrangement of the actuating means and the specific construction employed therewith as disclosed herein. The disclosure in Fig. 11 is of a structure that will accomplish the same result and may by consolidated with a structure similar to. that previously described. in the operation of my device, it is possible for the opcrator to seal tampions 13, 1d and 19 as well as certain other covers that co-operate with tampions 13', 141' and. 19, all of which is com mon in the art, for actuating the lever 42 as described herein, and thereby depressing the spring 46 and rendering the thumb piece 31 ineffective upon the lever 32'. The bar 82 in its normal position is placed under spring tension for retaining the tampions 21 out of engagement with the mouth at) of the aperture all. Open G sharp flutes are of a structure sligl'itly different from the flute shown herein, yet a device of my invention may be readily associated with open G sharp flutes for accomplishing a similar function. @pen G sharp flutes are Bo'ehm flutes and di'l J from the structure disclosed herein, only in that the tampion 17 may be oscillated independently of tampion 19'. Herein the tam pious 17 and 19 are both mounted on sleeve 7) and oscillate in unison.

In other instruments, for example the pic'- colo or octave flute, where similar problems are met, devicesembodying my invention may be used in substantially the same way.

In flutes as disclosed in Fig. 1, tampion- 14- is operated by the middle finger of the right hand and tampion 19 is operated by the riu finger of the left hand. The tliu-mb keys 30 and 81 are operated by the thumb of the left hand. Tampion 21 may be depressed toclesc its aperture by depressing thumb key 31. The function of the lever 412 is to utilize and reverse the downward movement of tam pions 1d and 19 for depressing the spring 46 on thumb key 31 whereby to permit raising of tampion 21 by the spring associated with tampion 21 for normally retaining the tan.- pionv 21 in its raised position, thereby opening the aperture that tampion 21 may close. This arrangement permits the operator follow Bv flat with B natural without sh in-g the thumb. Tii-s effects a simple and ready execution of the said sequence of 50119.; in comparison with the rather awkward and difiicult execution of such sequence of tones by shifting the thumb along" the key 311% as has been necessary heretofore. In other words, the devicemay be said to clear B natural and F sharp in the highest octave, without manipulating the thumb. From this it will be evident that the device permits selective execution of B natural from two sources heretofore impossible in the lowest and middle octaves.

Vhat I claim is:

l. The combination with a device of the class described having a pair of apertures, a tampion for each aperture and means for actuating the tampions for opening and closing the apertures, said means being so related that an operator may slide his thumb over said means for effecting selective and joint operation of said means, of an auxiliary means for rendering one of the thumb operable means ineffective while an operators thumb is operative upon both said first mentioned means.

2. The combination with a device of the class described having a pair of apertures, atampion for each aperture, means comprising thumb keys for selectively actuating the tampions, said thumb keys being so related that an operator may slide his thumb relatively to said pieces for elfecting'joint and selective movement of the thumb keys, and a finger key for rendering the one thumb key ineffective upon its respective tampion while an operators thumb is operative upon the thumb keys.

3. The combination with a device of the class described having a pair of apertures, a tampion for each aperture and means for actuating the tampions for operating and closing the apertures, each of said means comprising a pivotally mounted thumb key, one of said thumb keys being connected directly with one of the tampions and the second thumb key extending over said one tampion whereby an operator may selectively and jointly actuate both thumb keys by means of one thumb, a cross bar con nected with the second tampion for movement therewith, a spring carried by the overlying thumb key and underlying the cross bar, the spring being adapted to transmitmotion from the second thumb key to its respective tampion, and apivotally mounted lever having one of its ends overlying the spring for rendering the spring inoperative upon the cross bar when the thumb keys have been jointly actuated for moving their respective tampions from their normal positions.

4:. The combination with a device of the class described having a pair of apertures, a tampion for each aperture and means for actuating the tampions for operating and closing the apertures, each of said means comprising a pivotally mounted thumb key, one of said thumb keys being connected directly with one of the tampions and the second thumb key extending over said one tampion whereby an operator may selectively and jointly actuate both thumb keys by means of one thumb, a cross bar connected with the second tampion for move-- ment therewith, a. spring carried by the overlying thumb key and underlying the cross bar, the spring being adapted to transmit motion from the second thumb key to its respective tampion, a pivotally mounted lever having one of its ends overlying the spring for rendering the spring inoperative upon the cross bar when the thumb keys have been jointly actuated for moving their respective tampions from their normal positions, and means for selectively actuating the lever.

5. In a wind instrument comprising a perforated body, the combination of three tampions for cooperation with perforations in said body, yielding means for each tampion for retaining its respective tampion' in its normal position, a lever for jointly actuating two of the three tampions for moving said two tampions from their normal positions, and a connection between the third tampion and the said lever for releasing one tampion from the lever when the third tampion is moved from its normal position whereby said one tampion may be returned to its normal position by its respective yielding means.

6. In a wind instrument comprising a perforated body, the combination of three tampions for co-operation with perforations in said body, yielding means for each tampion for retaining its respective tampion in its normal position, a lever for jointly actuating two of the three tampions for moving said two *tampions from their normal positions, and comprising a spring carried by the lever and a second lever con nected with one of said two tampions and adapted to be'engaged by the said spring when said lever is actuated for moving the said two tampions from their normal positions, and a third lever connected with the third tampion for moving the said spring for releasing the second lever from said spring whereby to permit return of said one tampion to" its normal position under the influence of its respective yielding means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 11th day of June, 1923.

CHARLES B. GAGE. 

